


Some Things Are Meant To Be

by dragonydreams



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Movie, Alternate Universe - Some Kind of Wonderful, Endgame Sara Lance/Leonard Snart, F/M, M/M, everybody's bi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 10:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18444689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonydreams/pseuds/dragonydreams
Summary: What happens when Leonard Snart gets a date with Barry Allen, the hottest boy at school, who until recently was dating the most powerful boy at school, Oliver Queen? Nothing good, if you ask Len's best friend, Sara Lance.





	Some Things Are Meant To Be

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Berlanti Productions, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Hughes Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
> 
> Betas: Thank you to angelskuuipo and shanachie for looking this over for me.
> 
> Author's Note: This is something that's been dancing around in my head for over a year. Most of the dialog was pulled from transcripts. Title from "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley.

Leonard Snart, Len, walks along the train tracks on his way home from his after school job at the gas station. Despite having washed them several times before he left, his hands are stained black from engine grease and oil after working on cars all afternoon.

The sun is setting behind him. In his dirty jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket, he looks dangerous - a look you want to have living in his neighborhood. Even if that projected image is about as far from the truth of his personality as you could get. 

Len, after all, is an artist.

~~*~~

Sara Lance sits at her drums, playing along to a CD. She's playing hard, sweating as she works her sticks against the drums and cymbals. The muscles in her arms stand out and her long blonde hair is sticking to her skin.

She loses herself in the beat, pounding away all of the negative thoughts that threaten to drown her.

~~*~~

Barry Allen is one of the best looking boys at school. He's currently pressed up against the wall of his bedroom by one of the only boys who could claim to be more handsome; his boyfriend, Oliver Queen. Oliver's mouth is greedy, devouring Barry as if he couldn't get enough of him. Barry kisses him back eagerly, grateful that someone like Oliver could want him, despite where he's from.

Barry knows that Oliver is a rich spoiled brat, which sometimes makes him a bit of a jerk, but he's also the most popular boy at school. Being with Oliver makes Barry popular, too, so he puts up with less-than-thoughtful behavior in order to maintain his status. Because if you aren't popular in high school, you're nothing, and he can't be nothing.

~~*~~

Len cuts down a street that isn't entirely on his way home, but his feet take him down it anyway. He stops across the street from a house and leans against a lamppost as the door opens. He watches as Oliver Queen steps out, heading purposefully towards the sports car parked in front of the house. Barry steps out after Oliver, his shirt untucked, feet bare, and hair mussed. His hand catches Oliver's arm and with a dreamy smile on his face, he pulls Oliver back in for a quick kiss. Oliver allows it before abruptly turning and leaving without a backward glance.

Len's jaw clenches as he watches the scene before him. Oliver doesn't deserve someone as good and pure as Barry. Barry is one of the nicest guys at school and Oliver is an ass. Aside from the money, he doesn't know what Barry sees in the guy. 

Oliver revs his car’s engine and pulls away from the curb, tires squealing; showing off as he notices Len standing there. He smirks as he speeds past him.

Len looks down as his dirty hands and back across the street to the now empty doorway. Oliver may be a jerk, but he can give things to Barry that Len never can. He's poor and he's always gonna be poor. Barry deserves someone who can give him the world. 

And all Len could give him is his heart.

~~*~~

Len enters the house through the kitchen door, hoping to get up to his room before his dad spots him.

"Leonard? Is that you?" Lewis calls out.

Len sighs and steps back down the two steps he'd taken and turns to enter the living room. His dad is sitting on the couch with university brochures spread out over the surface of the coffee table.

"I've been checking out colleges," Lewis says before turning his head to look at Len. 

Len keeps his expression flat. "Dad, you going to college? That's great." He smirks.

Lewis stares up at his son, unable to believe that Leonard didn't care more about this. The opportunity to go to college was not something to be taken lightly.

"If I'd gone to college, I wouldn't be working crap security gigs six days a week. That's what you're gonna be doing if you don't get with the program. Come here. Take a look at these. Bunch of new ones came in the mail."

"Can I do this later?" Len asks.

"Jesus, Leonard, I-- I'm not trying to break your back here, pal."

"I know." This isn't anything he hasn't heard before.

"I just want you to think about your future," Lewis says earnestly. "You got a shot to be the first guy in this family who didn't have to wash his hands after a day's work."

Len holds up his dirty hands, as if to prove that it was already too late to avoid that fate and finally makes his way up to his room.

He pushes the door open and stops. His sister, Lisa, is sitting on the floor going through his records. LPs are out of their sleeves and she's blithely holding a record with her fingers - not on the edges - as she looks at the label. 

Len's room is his sanctuary. His haven. His studio. One wall is covered in posters from movies, art shows, art postcards, reproductions torn out of books. Another wall is covered in his own drawings.

"Hey," he barks out in annoyance.

Ignoring her brother's ire, Lisa says, "I'm looking for that song about the guy that killed himself for the girl that hated his guts." She looks up at him. "Do you know what song I'm talking about?"

"Do you understand the concept of the word 'privacy'?"

Lisa tosses her long dark hair over her shoulder. "Yes, I do, and that's why I never let anyone in my room."

"Get out of here before I throw your ass out my window."

"God, you’re in a nice mood today." 

"I said, get out," Len repeats.

"Is this a side effect of being massively unliked or what?" Len grabs Lisa by the arm and drags her to the door. "I get a black-and-blue mark, you're dead!"

Len slams the door in her face.

When he goes down to dinner, Lisa is showing her arm to their dad.

"Look at it. You see what he did to me?" Lisa whines.

"Sweetheart, I can't say that I see anything. I'm sure it hurts," Lewis says.

"Dad, then you need some glasses. At this point, if I wanted to lie out I could not wear a bathing suit."

"Stay out of his room," Lewis says. Len looks smug until Lewis turns to look at him. "And you… see me if you've got a problem with her before you start roughing her up."

"What right does she have to break into my room? And I did not rough her up."

"I have practically no feeling left in the upper part of my arm."

"Drop it!" Lewis snarls.

"I wish, just once, you guys could experience the humiliation of having the weirdest guy in a huge school be a blood relative. This whole family revolves around Len, and I'm sick of it."

"Lisa, that is absolutely not true, and you know it."

"Excuse me," Len says, pushing away from the table.

"You haven't finished your dinner." Lewis calls after him, "Hey, Leonard, what about these colleges? I expect an answer."

Len goes back up to his room and locks the door. He pulls out a tattered photo of Barry; a candid that he'd taken over the summer and looks at often. He looks relaxed and happy in the sunshine. 

Len sets the photo down on the table next to his easel and begins to paint.

~~*~~

A battered Mini speeds through the high school parking lot, barely missing students and parked cars alike before careening into a spot as the driver slams on the brakes.

"Are you aware of how close that was?" Sara beams as she gets out of the passenger side of her car, sliding her drumsticks into her leather belt, the fringe from her red leather kid gloves trailing along her hip. "Come on, Mr. Sunshine." Len gets out from behind the wheel, smirking, and grabs his books from the floorboards. "Skill beyond skill. Technique. Imagine what I can do when I get my driver's license back."

"Don't you have any books?" he asks as Sara heads towards the building.

"No, not on me. I forgot 'em," she says, lightly.

"You never study," Len marvels.

"You must be getting heat from the old man about college again," Sara guesses.

"That's all he thinks about," Len gripes.

"Well, it's probably better to have an old man nagging you about your future than no old man not nagging you about nothing." Sara had moved with her mom and sister after her parents divorced and she missed her dad terribly. Between his job and his drinking, he didn't have much time for his absentee daughters.

"Things aren't too great at home, huh?"

"Hey, it don't matter. As long as you stand by me, I'm covered," Sara says, punching him lightly in the arm.

"Where would I be without you?" Len says, smiling down at her.

"Seeing as I drive you to school every morning, you'd probably be at home… asleep in bed." She smirks.

Sara had been tapping her drumsticks against any surface she passed as they walked, including people. 

"Do you mind?" a tall grunge-wannabe nerd snapped.

"Very much so," Sara says with a wink. As they continue walking, she says, "I think it's hip you paint. I think it's hip I drum. It's perfect that we're friends."

"You know, I'm beginning to think--" Len stops short as a leg suddenly blocks his path. He looks up the leg to see a rough look boy with a shaved head grinning at him. Len glares at him, causing the other guy to grin wider. 

Len goes to step over the leg and the brute pulls it back so that Len is stepping high over nothing.

"That's original. How long you been pulling that one?" Sara snarks.

"Lance," Len cautions.

"How long have you been a lesbian?" the brute retorts.

"Excuse me?" Sara says. She may be bi, but who's this asshole to comment on her sexuality? Especially when he means it as an insult. 

"You have a little bit too much up front to be a guy, so you must be a lesbian," the guy adds, gesturing to her chest.

"I beg your pardon," Sara says through gritted teeth.

"You know, a little too much breastage here--"

"Shut up!" Len snaps, grabbing the other guy's jacket and hauling him to his feet.

A teacher pushes his way through calling out, "That's enough. Break it up."

The teacher gets between the boys and pulls Len back and pushes him towards the door. "That's enough. Clear out."

"Wimp," Sara calls back over her shoulder as she follows Len into the building.

"Oh, sweetheart--" the brute calls after her. The teacher turns back to him, as if waiting for an explanation. "See, wait a minute, okay? They jumped me. Why don't you nail them? I didn't do anything." The teacher pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket. "Those aren't mine." Then the teacher reaches behind and pulls a half pint of alcohol out of his hip pocket. "Oh, man, that's just for show. I don't--" The teacher pulls a pack of obscene playing cards from his other pocket. "It's like; those were a gift from your wife."

"You just got detention, Mr. Rory," the teacher says, directing him towards the building.

"For what? For what?" he demands.

"Come on. We'll talk about it in detention hall."

~~*~~

Len sits slumped in a chair at the back of the library working in a sketchpad. He occasionally looks up before going back to his drawing.

Barry Allen is a few tables over, studying, another boy sitting across from him with his back to Len.

Len watches Barry's every move, hoping his longing isn't obvious to the entire library. 

Barry glances up and notices Len looking at him. He looks away quickly, not wanting to know why Len is watching him so intently. He also doesn't want Oliver to realize what has Barry distracted. Unfortunately, it's too late for that.

The next time that Len looks up at Barry he realizes that someone is now looking at him. He drags his eyes from Barry to discover that the boy he was talking to is now glaring at him. Oliver Queen is staring him down with jealousy and suspicion.

Len glances away, looking back at his drawing. He tries to focus all his attention on his sketch for a few minutes before looking up again. 

Oliver is still glaring at him. Barry is looking back and forth between Len and Oliver, looking nervous.

Len isn't intimidated by pretty-boy Oliver. At least that's what he tells himself. He looks away for a moment before looking back to Oliver.

Oliver is still staring at him. Barry is looking back and forth between Oliver and Len, hoping that he's not about to be caught in the middle of something between these two.

Reminding himself that he is _not_ intimidated, Len closes his sketchpad, grabs his books, and heads out of the library.

~~*~~

Later, Len is working in the art room after school. He's wearing paint splattered jeans and a t-shirt, sitting on a stool and staring at a canvas he's been working on. He hears talking in the hallway and pokes his head out the door.

He sees Oliver standing close to a sophomore girl, Samantha, and they're talking. Samantha is leaning back against the lockers and Oliver leans forward, resting an elbow against the locker, trapping her against the wall. She doesn't look trapped though. She's staring up at him, enthralled, completely under his spell. She's reveling in his attention to her.

"Trust is the basis of any relationship," Oliver is saying as he plays with her hair. "I trust you. I want you to stay close, but not too close. You back off when I say. Okay?" She nods. "Do both your parents work?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe I'll stop by one day after school this week," Oliver says, leaning in to kiss her.

Barry enters the hallway and sees Oliver pulling out of a kiss with Samantha and he clenches his jaw. Oliver looks down the hall and sees Barry, quickly taking a step away from Samantha. Samantha glances at Barry and then back to Oliver. Oliver gestures with his head that she should leave and she scurries away. Oliver smiles and walks towards Barry, arms open wide.

"Barry," he says in greeting, as if he hadn't just been kissing someone else.

Barry goes to his locker and opens it roughly, three down from where Samantha had just been standing and curtly says, "Hi."

"Wanna go to your place?" Oliver suggests. Barry glares at him, tosses his books in his locker and grabs his coat. "What's wrong?"

Barry tries to move away, but Oliver blocks him. "Do you mind?" 

"Yes. I wanna know what's wrong." Barry glares at him, wondering if Oliver really thinks he's that blind. "She's a friend of my little sister. Her brother was in a car accident and she's a little upset." Barry still doesn't say anything. He's never been good at arguing with Oliver. "I knew you were coming. Why would I be trying to make it with someone else?" Barry relaxes a bit, allowing Oliver's charming logic to keep him silent. "How can you be so handsome and so insecure at the same time? Trust is the basis of any relationship. I trust you. I want to give you this." Oliver slips a ring off his pinky finger and slips it onto Barry's before leaning over to kiss his hand and then his cheek. "Now go get the car and I'll meet you out front."

Oliver heads off down the hallway, the same direction that Samantha had gone. Barry looks at the floor and sighs with frustration. He can't believe that he just let Oliver get away with that. He feels like he's being watched and turns around. 

Len is standing in the open door to the art room, looking at him.

Barry glances away, afraid that Len had witnessed his humiliation. His submission. 

Len heard it all, of course. He's worried for Barry. He knows exactly what Oliver just did to him. He gives him a two finger salute and smiles at him.

It's all too much for Barry and he hurries off. 

Len watches the empty hallway for a minute before he goes back and begins to clean his brushes.

~~*~~

Len and Sara are at the garage he works at. He's in the repair bay under a car and she's wandering around tapping her sticks on anything and everything. She begins tapping against a cloth-covered car.

"Hey, hey, whoa, don't," Len cautions. "That belongs to the slumlord that owns this place. It's his pride and joy."

"Pretty sick. How does it feel to stand under a real Mercedes-Benz?" she asks, pulling a stool over to sit near Len.

"About the same as standing under a Ford. Why? Do you get off on it?"

Len glances over at Sara, looks back at the car's undercarriage, before taking a deep breath and saying, "Can I ask you a question? You know a guy named Barry Allen?"

"In school? What about him?" Sara asks, warily.

"What do you think of him?"

"Rat bait. Why?"

"Just curious," Len says, quickly. 

"What about?" Sara presses.

"Him. Who he is."

"Because he's hot, right? Guys are so sickening. Really, it must be a drag to be a slave to the male sex drive."

"I didn't say anything about sex," Len points out, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh. Want to start a book club with him?" Sara says, sarcastically.

"I didn't say I wanted to do anything with him. I just think he's interesting."

"Don't go mistaking paradise for a tight ass."

Len turns away from the car to look at Sara. "What's that mean?"

"Don't go roaming where you don't belong. It's just an opinion," Sara says, holding her hands up.

"I express an interest in someone I don't even know, and you're getting tense," Len says, walking towards her.

"This is not tension. This is reason," Sara deflects. "The way this guy and his big money, cruel heart society spit on everyone is not interesting; it's pathetic."

"He's not big money. Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, in our sector. But he runs with the rich and the beautiful, which is guilt by association." She really doesn't like this topic of conversation so she changes the subject. "This is getting stale. You calling out for food?"

"No. You can call if you want," Len says. After a beat, he asks, "Don't you ever eat at home?"

"I don't like to eat alone," she admits. Uncomfortable again, she asks, "Barry Allen?"

"Forget about it. It's nothing," Len brushes it off. "It's not important."

"You couldn't score him in a million years. A, you're too shy and closed up to even approach him and B, he'd kill you. Twinks like him have one thing on their mind and you don't make enough of it to matter to him."

"You can't judge a book by its cover."

"Yeah, but you can tell how much it's gonna cost," Sara retorts.

"That's deep."

"You want shallow, call Barry Allen," Sara quips. A convertible pulls up to the gas pump outside. They both glance out to see that it's Oliver Queen and Barry Allen. "Speak of the devil."

Len glares at her as he wipes off his hands on the rag hanging from his back pocket and heads out to the pump.

"Could you fill it up? Super unleaded," Oliver demands. "Check the oil."

"Can you turn off your engine, please?" Len requests. After Oliver does so he opens the gas tank and inserts the nozzle before moving around to the front of the car to pop the hood, sneaking glances at Barry. 

"My pleasure," Oliver says, his superiority complex filling every word. "Be nice, or I'll make you check the tires." When Len doesn't rise to the bait, quietly going about his work, looking at Barry every few seconds, he adds, "So, this is what you do for a living, huh?"

When Len doesn't respond, Oliver honks the horn, startling Len up from behind the hood.

"I'm sorry. My hand slipped," Oliver insincerely apologizes.

"Would you cut it out?" Barry says, not liking the way that Oliver is treating Len.

"You like looking at my boyfriend, huh?" Oliver asks Len when he drops the hood, having finished with the oil.

"Shut up, Ollie," Barry says.

"What? He likes looking at you," Oliver says.

"Sorry," Barry tells Len.

"I'd recommend you keep your eyes and your mind off my property," Oliver says as Len removes the nozzle and returns it to the gas tank and screws the top back into place. Barry glares at Oliver, not liking being called his property. Len silently approaches Oliver for the money. "Here's ten for gas and ten for the look." 

Oliver purposely drops the money on the ground, turns on the engine, and peels out of the station.

Len watches them go as he puts the money in his shirt pocket. He reaches behind his back and pulls Oliver's dipstick out of his back pocket and tosses it in the trash barrel before turning back to the repair bay.

~~*~~

Oliver's car pulls up fast and stops in front of the tennis courts where the gym class is practicing. Barry gets out, wearing his gym clothes and reaches back into the car for his racket. He hurries up the steps onto the courts as Oliver pulls away. The class is heading back into the building and he hurries to join them, hoping to avoid detection.

Len is sitting in the bleachers, preferring to watch tennis practice than participate. He perks up as he sees Barry's arrival and attempt to join the class.

"Oh, Barry Allen," Ms. Sharpe, the gym teacher, calls out. "Right this way, please."

Barry stops, knowing he's been caught and curses under his breath.

Len leans over the railing to watch and listen.

"I'd say excusing yourself from class and leaving the school grounds with the boy with the hot car buys you two weeks of morning detention."

"Oh, we were just talking," Barry says, knowing it's a weak excuse.

"If all you wanted was talk, you could've gotten that without leaving school."

"What are you saying, Ms. Sharpe?" Barry demanded.

"Nothing that hasn't been said before. Now get inside." Barry glares at the teacher, furious about what she just implied about his reputation. Or perhaps it's Oliver's reputation that's more well-known. "Get inside. Read my lips. Go."

"It's not fair," Barry says, pouting.

A big smile spreads across Len's face. He now knows how he's going to get to spend some time with Barry.

After changing back into his regular clothes, he finds the fire alarm outside the principal's office and pulls it. Then he waits to be caught. The grin never leaving his face.

The next morning he almost giddily enters the detention room. He stands in the doorway for a moment looking puzzled as he scans the room. It's filled with the meanest, most wasted citizens of the school. They all look to the door, smelling fresh meat. 

None of them are Barry Allen.

"Welcome," greets the bald guy from the other day, Mick Rory. The guy who'd been taunting Sara.

"Is this detention?" Len asks, wincing internally at the slight squeak to his voice.

"Actually, it's your mother's house… and we're all having a party."

Out in the hallway, Barry is talking with Ms. Horton.

"You really shouldn't cut classes, even if it's just gym class," Ms. Horton says.

"It's incredibly nice of you not to make me sit down there with those guys," Barry says. "Those guys tend to like to beat up guys like me."

"I suppose it wouldn't matter if you served out your detention in my office," Ms. Horton offered.

"Oh, well, I had a better idea," Barry offers, turning on the puppy dog eyes. "I was kind of wondering if I wouldn't have to serve detention at all… if I promised I'd never ever do it again."

"We'll keep this just between you and me," she concedes.

"Oh, you're incredibly sweet, Ms. Horton," Barry gushes. "And I love the way you wear your hair."

"Really?" she asks, flustered. 

"Yeah, it's great. All the guys say it."

"No," she denies.

"Yeah. It's true. You're the best civics teacher there is."

"Thank you."

"Thanks very much," Barry says, turning to go.

"Sure. Bye-bye, Barry."

"Bye," he calls back over his shoulder.

~~*~~

Len and Sara are sitting on her front porch.

"Barry Allen doesn't know you, doesn't care about you. You're trying to jerk off the impossible. How many times do I have to tell you this? How many times?"

"Do you know what kind of a guy Oliver is?" Len asks.

"Handsome, rich, muscular, popular, hot, happening... and capable of reducing your head to a crimson stain on the wall," Sara rattles off.

"Oliver's a jerk," Len sums up. "He screws around on him, he treats him like dirt, he has no respect for him."

"And obviously he gets off on it," Sara says. "You're losing it. And when it's lost, all you are is a loser."

"You obviously don't know how I feel, so why don't you just butt out of this," Len protests.

"I know how you feel," Sara says, glumly.

"Oh, you do? Really? You've been in love before?" Len pushes.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," Sara snaps defensively. She's said too much already, exposed too many feelings.

"Really? Who have you ever been in love with?" Sara just glares at him, pain behind her eyes, but unable to say anything. "Huh?"

Finally, she says, "You want to abuse yourself, be my guest."

"Hey, Lance, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?"

"Snart, once a fool, always a fool. Right?"

~~*~~

In detention the next morning, Len is working in his sketchbook on his current drawing of Barry. Mick's sitting next to him, scratching on the desktop with a pocket knife. Len can't help making the comparison of him creating something while the guy next to him is destroying something else.

Mick looks up Len causing Len to meet his eyes and nod a greeting. Mick glances down at Len's sketchbook, so Len tilts it up so that he can see what Len's been drawing. Mick grabs the desktop and rips it from the frame, tilting it towards Len so that Len can see his work. Len nods approval.

~~*~~

Len's sitting at the bus stop across the street from the mall. He'd overheard that Barry and his best friend Cisco were going to be there tonight, so he thought he'd make himself visible. Which means that he's about to see it all.

Oliver is standing outside his car, leaning into Samantha, who has her back pressed against the door. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine. I've done this before," Oliver promises her. He glances to the side and says, "There's Barry."

Barry and Cisco are walking towards the mall and Barry sees Oliver and Samantha standing close together. Not for the first time, either.

Barry steps up to Oliver, who smiles brightly at him, as if he couldn't be happier to see him. Samantha is surprised to see him, and it shows. Barry stares daggers at Oliver. He's never been so embarrassed and humiliated in his life. Oliver dismisses Samantha with a nod of the head.

"Hi," Oliver greets his boyfriend.

"Oliver, I've had about enough of this," Barry says.

"What? What?" Oliver plays dumb.

"If you were more of a person, you might be enough for two people, but you're not," Barry says.

"Yeah? Well, this jealousy crap is really getting a bit tedious," Oliver sighs. 

"Yeah, well, you won't have to deal with it anymore," Barry states.

"What does that mean?" Oliver demands. Barry can't be dumping him. He's Oliver Queen; he doesn't get dumped. Barry tries to get around him, but Oliver blocks him.

"Get out of my way," Barry grounds out.

"No, no, not until we straighten this out," Oliver says.

"It's not gonna work anymore, Ollie," Barry says.

"Yeah? You walk out on me, where you gonna go?" he taunts.

Barry turns and walks away, back the way that he'd come. 

Len calls out to Barry from across the street. "Barry, you got a minute?"

Barry looks around startled. He sees Len and groans internally. He's the last person he wants to see right now. 

Oliver turns to see Len, too, and is instantly angry.

Barry looks back at Oliver, then to Cisco, who is still standing by Oliver, and a notion strikes him.

Cisco looks at Barry. He doesn't like the situation. Not with Oliver and definitely not with Len. No matter what, this is going to turn out badly.

Barry looks back to Oliver and a sly smile spreads across his face as he turns and crosses the street to Len.

Len stands his ground, a look of determination settling on his face as he figures out what to say now that he has Barry's attention.

When Barry finally reaches Len, they stand there in an awkward silence that feels like it drags on forever. Finally, Barry asks, "What do you want?"

Barry looks back across the street to see Cisco and Oliver watching them, a crowd gathering around them. He turns back to Len.

"Well... I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to go out with me." He glances nervously across the street, at all the rich kids looking at them. "But if it's too difficult a time, then I understand."

"So you're asking me out on a date?" Barry asks, a hint of a smile on his lips. He looks back to the others across the street. 

Sara is sitting the hood of her car around the corner, watching Len and Barry talking. She knows that hopeful look on Len's face and she can feel her heart breaking.

Oliver is seething as he watches Barry and Len talking. He watches as Len finally backs up, turns and disappears down the sidewalk. Barry crosses the street back to them.

Oliver pushes off his car as Barry approaches, his hands balled into fists. 

Cisco steps in front of him to greet Barry. "So, what did he want?" 

"He asked me out," Barry says, looking at Oliver with a smile.

"What did you say?" Cisco asks.

Barry looks at Oliver, at his friends surrounding him, then back to Cisco. Defiant, he says, "I said yes." He pulls off Oliver's pinky ring, tosses it at him, then turns and walks away, slipping into the crowd.

Cisco looks at Oliver and smiles sheepishly. "He's just mad," he says and hurries after Barry.

~~*~~

Sunday morning, Len is sitting at the dining table, eating and smiling. He can't stop smiling. Which his family notices.

"Why are you smiling?" Lewis demands.

"I wasn't aware that I was smiling, but if it bothers you I can stop," Len says, trying, and failing, to stop smiling.

"It's just that you haven't smiled much lately. I was curious about the change," Lewis says.

Len stares at him. "Well, I haven't had that much to smile about, Lewis."

Lewis sets his fork down on his plate. "I'm ‘Dad’ to you. And you're nuts."

"This is not true. It can't be," Lisa says. "This has got to be the most hilarious rumor ever floated."

"What are you talking about?" Lewis asks.

"Last night I hear everybody talking about how Len has asked this guy out." Lisa waits until all attention is on her. "Check it out. This guy is popular, he's handsome… and obviously in the middle of some emotional shootout to consent to date the human tater tot. What did you do to him, Len? Threaten his life?"

"I just asked him out."

"Well, his boyfriend's a man, for Christ's sake," Lisa points out.

"Hey, hey, hey," Lewis interjects, but Lisa keeps talking.

"He's extensively easy on the eyes, he's a total buck, and you're-- you're... Len."

"Is he nice?" Lewis asks.

"Father, the boy is sex," Lisa says.

"Glad you got time to think about the dating," Lewis snarks. "Between the boys and your art kick, you have no time for anything important. You'll be dead and buried before you get off your butt and apply to a college."

"Ease up, Dad. Any fool can get into a college," Lisa says. "Only a precious few may say the same about Barry Allen." Lewis and Len stare at Lisa, incredulous. "Am I wrong?"

~~*~~

In detention on Monday, everyone has a sketchpad out and is drawing something.

Mick holds up his sketchpad to Len. It's a grotesque sketch of a skull with live eyeballs. "That's what my girlfriend would look like without skin." Len reluctantly nods his approval. "And while we're on the topic of the party machine… congratulations on your latest coup, yeah."

Len looks up at him, surprised. "You know about Barry Allen? How?"

Mick grunts. "You think I live here? I have a personal life too, man. How did you swing that one?"

Len shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, Mick. I asked him out, he said yes, we're gonna--"

Mick interrupts him. "Any time somebody from the outside lifts a date from a prick like Queen… we can all find cause to rejoice. I'm proud of you."

~~*~~

Sara's sitting with a dorky nerd grunge-wannabe, Ray. He stares at her as if she were the answer to all of his prayers. They're sitting on a wall just outside the main doors of the school.

"Do you want me to feel you up or anything?" Ray asks, eager to play the role Sara asked him to play.

Sara stares at him. "Do you want to die young?"

"What kind of question is that?" he asks, aghast.

"Just sit here and shut up," Sara snaps. She looks towards the doors, waiting.

"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?" Ray asks. "See, a lot of guys I know think that you're--"

"What?" she snarls, knowing exactly what people think about the flat-chested, drum playing tomboy.

"Confused," Ray finishes. "But I know it's just an act. Do you know how I know?"

"Enlighten me," Sara drawls.

"'Cause you radiate this sexual vibe. And if you wanted to, you could be a girl," he snaps his fingers, "like that."

Sara leans in close to him, practically purring, "Ray, this is 2019. Did you know that a girl can be whatever she wants to be?"

"I know. My mom's a plumber," he admits.

"That explains a lot about you, Ray."

"And I have an enormous amount of respect for her," Ray adds.

Sara perks up as something catches her eye. She watches as Len crosses the courtyard towards her. She leans against Ray, posing.

"Just sit here and act like you like me," Sara demands.

"Okay," Ray says, worshipfully. "That'll be absolutely no problem."

Len walks up to them. "Hello."

"Len, hi. What's up?" Sara asks, waiting for a reaction from him.

"Are you busy now?" Len asks, glancing at Ray.

"Oh, no. We were just talking. Why?" Sara says. Ray starts to play with her hair.

"'Cause I would like to borrow your car," Len says. "If you have something to do, I can come back and pick you up. But can I borrow your car?"

Sara looks thoughtful, "Well, where are you going?"

"I'd like to give Barry a ride home," Len admits.

"Hey, by the way, congratulations, dude," Ray says, holding his fist out to bump. "He's smokin'."

Sara rolls her eyes. "All right."

"Thanks," Len says, embarrassed, as he bumps fists with Ray. "Is that okay?"

"I'd appreciate a couple bucks for gas," Sara says, fishing her keys out of a pocket and handing them over.

Len quirks an eyebrow at that. It's not that he minds paying, but she's never asked with that tone before. "Sure. I'll come back in about an hour?"

"It's just time. Not like it means anything," Sara says, airily.

"Thanks," Len says, confused by her attitude, but heads back the way he'd come. 

"So, you gotta wait around an hour?" Ray asks, eagerly.

"If I want to," Sara glibly replies, shoving away from him.

"Do you know how much damage we could do to each other in an hour?" he proposes, hopefully.

"It's kind of a revolting thought, actually," Sara says.

~~*~~

Len is sitting outside, waiting, jiggling Sara's keys nervously in his hands.

Barry and Cisco exit the school, talking. 

"For spring break? Are you out of your mind?" Barry says.

"That's it, I'm taking you to Aspen. No, I'll take you to Chile," Cisco insists.

Len stands as they pass him. "Barry. Hello." 

They stop and Barry says, "'Hi."

"Would you like a ride home?" Len nervously asks.

"Well, I'm going home with Cisco," Barry says, apologetically. "Cisco, this is Len. Len, Cisco." 

Len offers his hand to Cisco, who hesitates, looking at Barry, before taking it.

Glancing back at Barry, Len says, "Well, I was just hoping we could talk."

"Why don't you call me?" Barry suggests.

"Okay," Len reluctantly agrees.

Barry feels bad for him, but he doesn't know what to do. Cisco intercedes. 

"Why don't you go with him?" Cisco suggests.

Barry glares daggers at him as Len waits for a final answer. Barry looks back at Len and smiles with dread. "Where's your car?"

Len smiles with relief. "I'll pull around."

"Okay," Barry agrees and Len runs off. Barry turns on Cisco, shoving him roughly. "Thanks a lot."

"What?" Cisco asks, rubbing at his arm. 

"You made me look really stupid," Barry says.

"I did not. He's giving you the perfect opportunity to back out." Barry looks at him incredulously. "He wants to talk, so tell him you're back with Oliver."

"I'm not back with Oliver," Barry points out. 

"Okay, then tell him the truth, that you used him," Cisco says.

"I didn't use him," Barry objects. 

"Oh, really?" Cisco raises an eyebrow. "You didn't use him to get away from Oliver?"

"It wasn't deliberate. I was mad, and he stepped in. It was bad circumstances. Okay?"

"Okay." Cisco holds up his hands in defeat. "Regardless, the longer you wait to kill it, the worse it's gonna be. You saw his face. I mean, he's completely deluded. Unless, of course, you're really interested in him." Barry shoves Cisco again, more playfully this time and laughs.

Len sits in Sara's junker of a car, desperately turning the key as the engine screams but won't turn over. "Please, please," he begs the car. He glances at the gas gauge and sees that it's empty.

After getting tired of waiting, Barry crosses the parking lot to where Len's getting out of Sara's car.

"The car won't start," he apologizes.

Barry turns as Cisco drives past, calling after him, "Wait, wait, wait. Cisco, Cisco!" Cisco stops and reverses. 

"Look, I gotta get home. I really do," Barry says to Len. "I'm sorry."

"No, I understand. That's fine, that's fine," Len says, hoping his disappointment isn't as obvious as he feels. "I'll see you later."

"Can I have a ride?" Barry asks as Cisco stops next to him.

"What happened to Prince Charming?" Cisco teases as Barry opens the door and gets in. 

Barry looks at Cisco and nods his head towards Len, giving him his patented puppy dog eyes. Cisco reluctantly nods and Barry waves Len over. "Come on."

Len looks to Cisco. "It's okay?" 

"Come on!" Barry insists. 

Len drops the keys through the open sunroof, grabs his backpack and runs over to Cisco's car. "There's no door," he observes, looking at the open Jeep. 

"Get in," Barry insists.

From across the parking lot, Oliver is sitting in his car, watching as Len tosses his backpack into Cisco's car and hops over the side, falling into the back seat.

"Are you in?" Cisco asks. 

"Yes," Len says.

Cisco looks at Barry, giving him a _look_ , which Barry returns. Cisco glances at Len through the rearview mirror.

"So, where are we going?" Cisco asks.

"Home," Len answers.

"Where's that?" Cisco asks. 

"1629 Handley Avenue," Len answers.

"It's around the corner from--" Barry adds, uncomfortably, "under the bridge from my house."

Len's been watching them, studying Barry.

"That's a nice watch," he says.

"Oh, thank you. It's not mine," Barry glances at the OMEGA and covers it with his other hand. He turns to look at Len, smiles embarrassedly. "I borrowed it from Cisco. It's real." He turns back around.

Cisco looks at Barry and motions to Len. He mouths, 'Tell him.' Barry sneaks a look around to the back seat, then looks at Cisco and shakes his head slightly. Cisco urges him with a stern look.

"Barry, isn't there something you wanted to say to-- I'm sorry. What's your name again?"

"Len."

"Oh, yeah, Len," Cisco finishes.

Barry gives Cisco a sub-zero look.

Len watches the interaction between the two guys in front of him. He's cautious and suspicious. Barry turns to look at him again, and he looks back.

"You wanna back out of the date?" he guesses.

Barry blinks in surprise. "No-- I mean, if you want out, I'll understand."

"I wouldn't have asked you out if I didn't want to go," Len says. "I don't want out. Do you?"

He can't say it. Len is looking at him so earnestly, that he can't break his heart. He won't admit it, but he kinda likes the way that Len looks at him. "No."

The rest of the drive is silent until Cisco approaches Len's house.

"It's the house on the left," Len says. When the car parks, he gets out. "Well, thank you."

"My pleasure," Cisco says.

Barry just smiles and Len backs away from the car.

"Bye," Len calls out.

"Bye," Barry returns.

"Thanks," Len says.

Cisco rounds on Barry, "Well, that was great. I gave you a perfect window to throw him out of, and you went limp."

"Look, maybe you can do something like that, but I can't. At least not in cold blood."

"Then I guess you got yourself a new boyfriend," Cisco says.

Barry glares at him.

"Hi, guys. Did you come by to see my brother?" Lisa says, popping up in front of Cisco's window.

"Oh, my God. What? No." Cisco says, aghast. "I mean, we just dropped him home."

Lisa laughs. "He told you we live here? He is so modest. He kills me. I suppose he didn't mention anything about our ancestral estate in Scotland or our apartment in Paris. So modest."

Lisa backs away from the car and heads inside. Cisco and Barry look at each other as if Lisa had lost her mind.

"Hi, jerk. I just saw your boyfriend out front," Lisa says in greeting as she enters the kitchen. 

"Did he say anything to you?" Len asks.

"Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out," she teases as she heads upstairs.

~~*~~

Sara sits in her car as it slowly moves down the street. Ray is behind the car, pushing.

"Look, how far are you going?" he asks.

"The nearest gas station," Sara says.

"Oh. Wonderful. How far is that? Russia or something?"

"Don't worry about it. You're young."

"Not anymore," Ray gripes. "Look, you'd better give me your phone number after this."

~~*~~

Len is in the art room before school the next day, a paintbrush in his mouth, as he considers his work, plotting his next move. The music that had been playing suddenly stops. He turns around to look.

Oliver is standing at the old boom box, his finger on the stop button. He sits on the edge of the teacher's desk, calmly looking at Len.

"How you doing?" Oliver asks.

"All right," Len warily answers, covering the painting with a cloth.

"You nervous about something?"

"No. No."

"You look nervous. You okay?"

"I'm fine," Len insists. Confused, but fine.

"Do you always come to school this early?" Oliver asks.

"No. Do you?"

"Never," Oliver says.

"So why today?" Len asks.

"I wanted to talk to you," Oliver says.

"About?"

Oliver grins wolfishly. "Not about art." Len doesn't reply and Oliver softens his smile. "Look, I'm totally cool with the situation. I was looking for a way out of the thing with Barry. You saved me a tough talk."

"I'm supposed to believe this, right?" Len scoffs.

"It's true. I don't want Barry hating me. I don't want anybody hating me. So I'd appreciate you doing me a favor." Len waits to hear him out. "I don't know your plans for Saturday, but I'd like you to swing by my place. I'm having a party. My parents are in Europe."

"You're inviting me to _your_ house?" Len asks, incredulously.

"Yeah, I invited a lot of people. Is something wrong?" Oliver asks, as if this wasn't some weird entree into bizarro world.

"Gee, I don't know. You tell me."

"There's nothing wrong on my end. You got an inferiority complex or something? I've known Barry a long time, and I'd like to keep it that way. If it's too much to ask you to bring him to a party, hey, I'm sorry I asked."

"Put yourself in my position. This doesn't sound too good," Len says.

"Put yourself in my position," Oliver counters. "I'm big enough to invite a former boyfriend and the guy who stole him from me to a party. You think this makes me look good? I've taken a lot of shit over this."

"That's why I'm a little cautious about your motives," Len says.

"I'll buy that. Come on. It's a party. It's not the end of the world."

"Are you being straight with me?" Len asks, still unsure.

"Do you see any reason at this point why I should play games?" Oliver asks.

"Well, I'll-- I'll talk to Barry about it, but--"

Oliver interrupts. "I've already talked to him. He's fine with it."

Len's brow crinkles in confusion. "You talked to him? Really?" Oliver nods. Len thinks about it for a minute then nods too. "Well, we'll drop by, then."

"Good." Oliver slides off the desk and heads towards the door. He pauses and looks back at Len. "You know, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing in the world... if you and I actually turned out to be friends."

"Yes, it would," Len says, laughing.

Oliver smiles. "See you." He pauses. "Got a coat and tie?"

"No," Len says.

"See you Saturday," Oliver says as he takes his leave.

Len returns to his painting, wondering what the hell just happened.

~~*~~

That night, Len sits in a club, not really listening to the band on stage, looking around. Waiting for someone. For Barry.

"Since when does your dad let you go clubbing on school nights?" Sara asks, coming over and leaning against a support beam across from him.

"I'm waiting for Barry," Len says.

Sara scoffs. "Here? He's coming here? On a school night? Did I miss something? Is there a new world order?"

Len's not in the mood to deal with whatever's been going on with Sara lately. "Look, if you're gonna bug me and make me feel bad, can you do it later, please?"

"He said he'd meet you here?" Sara presses.

"Not in those words," Len admits.

"In _any_ words?"

Len just shrugs. There's no good way to answer that question. 

"Maybe he didn't have ID," Sara offers, sitting at his table.

"Who doesn't have ID?" Len protests.

"Maybe he doesn't like you as much as you think, " Sara suggests.

"Maybe," Len agrees.

Sara stares at Len, biting back tears. "Do you miss me, Len? Do you miss not being around me?"

"This isn't the third grade anymore," Len says.

"He doesn't love you," Sara says. She's lashing out and she knows it. "It's a joke. It's all a joke."

"How do you know?" Len asks, looking up sharply.

"I'd bet my hands on it."

"You don't wanna make that bet."

"Yeah, I do." She pauses and decides to just lay it out on the table. "I've been thinking a lot lately about me and you... and I came to a conclusion that I didn't want to deal with. But now that we've talked I can't hide it anymore. I think we'd get along much better if we didn't spend so much time together anymore."

"Why?"

"Because I'm driving you crazy and you're driving me crazy," Sara says, bitterly. "And I'd rather not see you and have you think good things about me… than have you see me and hate me. 'Cause I can't afford to have you hate me, Len. The only things I care about in this goddamn life are me and my drums... and you." She wipes at the tears on her cheeks. "Adios."

"Wait. Lance," Len calls after her, but Sara's disappeared into the crowd.

Len wants to chase after her, but he knows there's no obvious solution to this particular problem. He wants to be with Barry, and right now, that's more important to him than anything. He glances at his watch, cringing at how late it is. Maybe he'll give Barry another half hour.

~~*~~

Barry's rushing down the hallway towards the locker room when Oliver accosts him.

"It's ten after. Ms. Sharpe's gonna kill me. Get lost, Ollie," Barry says.

"You still mad at me?" Oliver cajoles. "Can we talk? Please?"

"Oh, this is cute," Barry mutters, as Oliver follows him.

"I wanna talk to you."

"It's too late," Barry says.

"I've been in agony over this," Oliver says. 

"I doubt it," Barry says.

Oliver dashes around in front of him. "How can I convince you I love you?"

Barry pushes past him. "Start by leaving me alone. I'm late."

"You're going out with a low-life just to hurt me. It's working. It hurts. Okay?"

"Is that why you're trying to convince me to go to your house? So you can prove what a stud you are by beating him up?"

"Where did you hear that?" 

"Give me a little credit," Barry says. 

"True, I invited him, but not to beat him up." Barry looks at him doubtfully. "To show you what a good loser I am."

"You're not a _good_ loser. You're just a loser, period."

~~*~~

After school, Lisa is sitting in the food court at the mall with a group of her friends.

"I'm his sister, so if you're a brother or a sister, you're in," Lisa's saying. "It's like they have to accept you or the whole social structure caves in."

"You get to go to parties?" one of her friends asks. 

"Of course. I'm probably going to the one Saturday at Oliver Queen's. Len's bringing Barry, so we might double."

"Who'd go out with you?" A different girl teases. 

"The choices are limitless," Lisa says, airily.

"Can we go, too?"

"Eventually, yeah, if you stay cool."

"You're lying," one girl says, calling her bluff.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. If you're so tight with Oliver, why aren't you over there with them?" The girl points across the food court to where Oliver is sitting with a few guys.

"Because I'm here with you, twerp."

"Maybe you're here because you're false."

"Is this a challenge or something?" Lisa never backs down from a challenge.

"Yeah."

"Look, I was hanging with you fungi in a vain effort to cool you out... but all I am getting is breeze… so c'est la vie." Lisa gets up and heads towards where Oliver and his friends are.

"She's a liar. Her brother loathes her. He'd never let her play with his rep," the girl who challenged Lisa says as they watch her go.

Lisa carefully takes a seat just next to where Oliver is holding court. She's young enough that the older boys don't even notice her.

"Barry has to bring him. What else can he do?" Oliver proposes.

"Not bring him," Tommy says.

"He can't take the pressure. He'll bring him. The party will go down as expected. Barry will blow in with his guy, and we'll nail him. Then we'll go back to business as usual. It's real simple. All right?"

Lisa can't believe what she just heard. She may take advantage of her brother and treat him like the loser that he is, but he doesn't deserve this. Tears gather in her eyes as she runs out of the mall.

As she runs past her friends, they call after her, "Hey, Lisa, what happened? They send you for beer?"

When she gets home, she rushes up to Len's bedroom and picks the lock on his bedroom door.

"I guess you just wouldn't be you if you knocked before breaking into my room," Len says, dryly.

"I'm sorry, Len. I thought if I knocked, you wouldn't open up. I want to talk to you." Lisa sounds more sincere than Len's ever heard her be before. 

"Well, this should be interesting," he says, gesturing for her to enter properly.

"I heard something today at the mall. Oliver Queen and his guys were there, and I heard them talking about you."

Len sighs. "What's your point, Lisa?"

"Len, it's a joke. Barry Allen, the date, the party, the whole thing. It's a joke. He's only going out with you so he can get you to Oliver Queen's house... so he can mess you up. I heard Oliver say it, Len. I heard him myself. It's true." There are tears in her eyes as she spells out everything she'd heard.

"You're not kidding?" he asks, sitting up straight. "It's a joke?"

"Yeah. Len, I'm sorry. For everything." She slowly backs out of the room and closes the door behind her. She locks it again with her pick. 

Len stares out the window and realizes what a fool he's been. As if he'd ever really get the good-looking, popular boy to be interested in him. To make matters worse, he's pushed away his best friend in the world. He looks at the sketch of Barry hanging on his wall and knows he needs to make things right.

~~*~~

Sara's pounding away at her drums. She's wearing boxer shorts and a white tank top soaked through with sweat, a bandana is in her hair to keep it off her face.

The room is a mess and she couldn't care less. The room reflects her mood. 

Len lets himself into her room and she smiles at him and keeps drumming. He walks in and sits on her bed. Sara reaches over with a drumstick and turns off the cd player. 

"You're getting really good," Len says.

"Thanks. I'm working on it," she says, wiping her face with a discarded t-shirt.

"Your sister doesn't mind you playing this late?"

"I don't know. I never asked. To what do I owe this honor?"

"I have a little problem." 

Sara can tell that he's serious, so she gets up from the drums and sets her sticks aside.

"You know how you told me the thing with Barry was a joke?"

"Yeah."

"Well... it is... a joke."

"You mean a joke, as in a joke on you?" she clarifies. Len nods and Sara winces. She may be mad at him, but he doesn't deserve this.

"Yep. Lisa heard Oliver talking about it. Barry's supposed to get me over to Oliver's house and they're gonna pound me."

Len leans back on Sara's bed. He reaches back to put his hand behind his head and comes back holding a bra, which Sara snatches from him and tosses away.

"It's a good thing you found out about it."

"I'm not afraid of him," Len says, quickly.

"You're gonna go through with this," Sara realizes. 

"I have to," he insists.

"You think it's just Oliver?"

"If he's gonna get me, he's gonna get me. It doesn't have to be at this party. He's gonna have lots of chances. I'm not gonna hide from him."

"Leave it alone," Sara says.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I want to stand up to him."

"Well, forget it. It's impossible. In another year you're gone. It's better to swallow pride than blood."

"You don't think that. I don't believe for a second you think that," Len says. "I'm not giving in to them anymore. Not for another year or another minute."

Sara turns back to him and smiles. She crawls onto the bed with him. "I get it. I'm sorry."

Len leans back on the bed again and Sara lays down next to him. He turns to face her. "I'm sorry that I was so tough on you."

"Me too."

Len reaches out to touch her cheek. "You always hurt the ones you love."

"So, when are you beating the shit out of Barry Allen?" she asks.

Len looks away and laughs. Sara doesn't laugh. She just lies still and enjoys the feeling of his body against hers.

~~*~~

At school the next day, Barry is heading to meet up with his friends when he sees Len headed in his direction. He waits for Len to catch up to him rather than talking to him in front of his friends.

"Barry! Hey. What time do you want me to pick you up Saturday?" Len asks. Barry hesitates and looks at his friends sitting a few feet away, embarrassed. "You have to check with your friends to see when you can go out?"

"No, I just--" He doesn't know what to say.

"It's a simple question," Len presses, bitterly. "When?"

"Pick me up anytime you want to," Barry says.

"7:30? If that's a problem, then call me," Len says before walking away.

Barry turns back towards his friends. Cisco and Caitlin are engaged in a conversation and don't acknowledge him when he walks up. They continue talking as if he isn't there.

"Oh, I hate Greece. I'd much rather go to the Virgin Islands," Cisco says, not looking at Barry.

"Hi," Barry says.

"We're going to Aspen over Christmas," Caitlin says.

"I said hi," Barry tries again.

"Oh, Aspen's okay, but there's really nothing much to do at night," Cisco says.

"What is this?" Barry asks.

"Yeah, it's mostly private parties. I had a good time there last spring," Caitlin says.

"Cisco," Barry pleads.

"Spring is completely different," Cisco agrees. "There's so many more college people."

Barry understands. He's being frozen out.

"True. But what's in the Virgin Islands?" Caitlin asks.

"Are you kidding me? Try a million people," Cisco says.

"So this is it, right?" Barry demands. 

"I'd go anywhere if I could ditch the family and be on my own," Caitlin says.

"Thanks," Barry says and stomps off in a huff.

"I had my parents almost talked into letting me go to Ricky's in Santa Fe," Cisco says.

"He's gone," Caitlin says. 

Cisco looks around and watches as Barry disappears across the quad. He hates himself for doing it, but this is high school and he had no choice.

Barry is fighting back tears and as he passes Oliver, Oliver blows him a kiss, confirming that he's freezing Barry out of his circle.

~~*~~

Len and Sara are walking down the railroad tracks on their way home from the bank.

"How's it feel to be carrying all that cash in your pocket?" Sara asks.

"Well, a little uncomfortable," Len admits

"Yeah. Want me to tell you one more time that I think you're crazy?"

"Nope."

"Been hoarding that cash for years, right?" 

"Yep."

"How bad's your dad gonna reem you?"

"You won't be able to measure it with existing technology," he says, grinning like an idiot.

"He's a miser, right?"

"No, it's just real important to him that I go to college," Len says.

"'Cause he didn't go," Sara adds.

"Exactly."

"Hey, I just rag on you a lot about your parents because I'm jealous. It's gotta feel good to have someone looking out for you like he does."

"Sometimes," Len admits.

"Still gonna kill you, though, right?"

"Yeah."

They walk in silence for a while before Sara asks, "Is it his body or his face?"

"Barry?" Len questions and Sara nods. "I don't know. It's everything."

Seemingly out of the blue, Sara says, "My grandmother told me when I grew up I'd have big boobs."

Len glances down at her chest. "What happened?"

Sara shrugs. "I don't know, I guess I just got lucky."

Len enters the house through the kitchen door, closing it as quietly as possible, wincing when it makes a soft click as it latches closes.

"Hey, I got some great news today, pal," Lewis calls out from the living room. Len goes to stand in the doorway.

"You know those ''T'' bills at the B of A at six and three-quarters percent?"

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah."

"They're at seven," Lewis says, excitedly.

"That's great." 

"You know what that means? It means you're earning an extra $16 a year per bill."

"Wow," Len deadpans.

"You got your first year's money, Len," Lewis tells him. "Now all you gotta do is get off your can and pick a school to spend it on."

"Yeah. I gotta do that," Len agrees and heads upstairs.

In his room, he pulls out the wad of cash and thumbs through it. He looks up at the sketch of Barry and knows this will all be worth it.

~~*~~

Len and Sara are standing in front of a jewelry store, looking at watches through the window.

"That's it," Sara says, pointing to an expensive high-end watch.

"That?" Len asks, pointing at it.

"Yeah, that," she confirms. "Solid choice. That's the ticket," Sara mutters, admiring the timepiece.

~~*~~

Sara leans against the tire of the vintage Jaguar that Len is working on.

"I think we've pretty much covered everything," Sara says. "All the arrangements have been made."

"Yep," Len agrees.

"You know what you're gonna say?" Sara asks.

"Whatever comes to mind," Len says.

"Uh-huh. You wanna plan it out a little?"

"It'll sound false. I wanna be true to my instincts," Len says.

"Don't think I'm being weird, but what if-- what if he wants you to kiss him?"

"Well, then I guess I'm just gonna have to kiss him," Len says with a smirk.

"Barry's no minor leaguer who'll be swept off his feet by your amateur lips," Sara points out.

"Thanks."

"This boy has plenty of battle scars."

"I think I can handle it," Len says.

"Great," Sara says. "Well, I just think maybe... you should consider whether or not you can deliver a kiss that kills."

"What, you think I can't?" Len asks, defensively.

"If you say you can, you probably can," Sara says, dismissively.

Now Len's doubting himself. It's not like he's kissed many people. "Well, no, I'm no _expert_."

"It's cool. I was just gonna work on it with you, but if you're comfortable... great."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Len rushes out from under the car. "How do you work on it?"

"Pretend I'm a guy," Sara says.

Len looks confused, but says, "Okay?"

"I mean... pretend I'm him. Barry. I know it's a big stretch, but try it." She hops up on an oil drum. "Come here. I didn't mean to scare you."

Len moves over to her, wiping his hands on a rag and steps between her legs.

"All right. What do you do with your hands?" she asks.

"Well, that depends," Len says.

"No, it doesn't depend. They go on his hips."

"Okay," Len says.

"Do it." Len puts his hands on her hips. "Look into my eyes."

Len looks into her eyes and bursts out laughing. Sara glares at him.

"I don't have to do this, you know."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Just grow up a little."

Len replaces his hands on her hips and looks into her eyes.

"He'll probably do this…" Sara puts her arms around his neck.

"How do you know?"

"I watch a lot of TV. Close your eyes."

He closes his eyes and she takes the opportunity to steel herself. This is something she's wanted for a long time - to kiss Len - and she doesn't want to screw up what will probably be her only chance to do so. She moves slowly towards him, her lips parted. She pauses for a moment and presses her lips to his.

The kiss is electric, for both of them, Sara deepens the kiss and Len's hands squeeze her hips, fingers curling into her jeans. Sara's legs wrap around Len's waist, pulling him closer.

Sara could get used to this. 

That thought has her pulling out of the kiss and away from him. She pushes him away and hops down from the oil drum.

"What? What?" Len asks, not ready for that kiss to be over. Kissing Sara was better than anything he'd ever felt before.

"Lesson's over. You're cool," Sara says, her heart still pounding.

Len smiles. "You're blushing."

"Yeah, right. The day I blush--" Sara denies, despite feeling the heat in her cheeks.

"No, no, that was very nice. You're-- You're pretty."

"This is how you repay a favor, I'm not rich enough to be your friend." She storms out of the garage.

Len is dumbfounded. "No, wait. I didn't mean anything. I'm sorry," he calls after her. 

Sara stops and turns around slowly. She'd give anything in the world for him to have meant it, but she knows he didn't. 

"Don't be mad, okay?"

Sara forces a smile and Len smiles back. She turns to go again and this time he doesn't stop her.

"I'll see you tonight!" he shouts after her.

~~*~~

Len's in the shower getting ready for his big date, singing along to the radio - _Miss Amanda Jones_ by The Rolling Stones.

He's been fantasizing about going out with Barry Allen for so long that he can hardly believe that it's actually happening. Tonight. 

He's so lost in the music and his own thoughts that he doesn't hear his dad enter the bathroom. There's a flush of the toilet and the water suddenly turns cold.

"Fuck!" Len screams in shock as Lewis turns off the radio. Len yanks back the curtain enough to see out. "Dad. What are you doing?"

Lewis just stares at him. "Get dressed. I wanna talk to you."

Len realizes that his dad knows about the money. Shit. He takes as much time as he can drying off before wrapping the towel around his waist and heading to his room.

Lewis is pacing in Len's room when he enters and pulls on a shirt. 

"I wanna know what's wrong." Len doesn't say anything. "Are you in trouble?"

"No."

"Were you at the bank recently?" Len's face drains of all color. "You withdrew the college money, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he admits.

"It's going back, pal. Every last cent of it's going back. You don't get this close to something and piss it away."

"It's not going back 'cause I don't have it. I spent it."

"What'd you buy, a car? Whatever you bought you can take back and you're gonna take it back!"

"Dad, I can't. I don't want to."

"I don't care what you want!" Lewis yells. "The money's going back in the bank and that's final!"

"You're not listening to me. I don't have the money. I can't get it back," Len says.

"You had no right touching that money!"

"I had every right! I earned it!" Len yells back.

"Where's the fucking money?" Lewis shouts.

"Dad, calm down. The money is not important here--"

"You don't know what's important! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I do know what I'm talking about!" Len screams. "You just never listen to me! You only hear what you want! Will you listen to me for once?"

"I'm listening," Lewis says, sitting on the bed.

"I'm not gonna go to college. The money is gone. You can't get it back! It's over, this whole dream! It's not what I wanted. It's what you wanted! I never wanted it! I just didn't have the guts to tell you!"

"You're only eighteen years old, for Christ's sake!"

"Then I'm nineteen then I'm twenty! When does my life belong to me? Dad, listen to me. I'm going out with a guy tonight. He's gorgeous, and everybody's in love with him and he's going out with me. Get it? See, in the eyes of most people around here, I'm a nothing. So I don't start agreeing with them, I'm gonna go through with this date. I just-- I want to show this guy that I'm as good as anybody else."

"So what, are you gonna impress him with money? Think that's the solution?"

"Didn't you ever have guys at your school that didn't fit in?"

"Yeah, of course," Lewis said.

"Yeah? Well, I'm one of those guys."

Lewis looks down. He'd never really thought much about his son's social status. He assumed everything was fine, despite Lisa's taunts.

"Thought things were going okay for you."

"Yeah, well, I like art, I work in a gas station... my best friend's a tomboy. These things don't fly well in the American high school."

"I didn't know about this."

"How could you know about it? You're my father."

"Jesus, Len. How could you blow all that money?"

"Believe me, there's a good reason behind all this. You've just got to trust me."

"Trust you? There's a limit."

"How can you put a limit on trust?"

"Do you know any father who would let his kid do something like this?"

"No."

"So why should I have to go along with it?"

"Because you believe in me. Listen, I'm gonna replace the money. Think about it. You know I will. I'm not stupid. I didn't work all this time just to throw everything away without thinking about it. I know what I'm doing."

Lewis looks at Len long and hard and nods. He smiles and realizes that he's proud of his son. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Lewis slaps his knees and stands. "I'm still gonna ride your ass about college. I'm not giving up on that."

"All right," Len acknowledges with a laugh. 

"I've said my piece. Do me a favor, will you?"

"Sure."

"Stop calling me Lewis."

"No problem."

Lewis opens the door and Lisa is standing in the doorway holding a butter knife.

"Hi," she says, lowering the knife.

"Stop sneaking around listening at people's doors."

"Me?" she asks, innocently.

"Yeah, you."

"Dad, I just came up to tell Len that Sara is downstairs waiting."

"Well, don't get in his way." Lewis steps around Lisa and heads downstairs.

"Did he go apeshit?" she asks.

"No."

"Really?"

Gesturing at his still mostly-naked body, Len says, "I'm really in kind of a hurry--"

"I just came up to wish you luck tonight. Okay? I have all my friends crossing their fingers for you."

"Thank you," he says, smiling at her.

"He really didn't go apeshit? He's probably saving it for me."

Len pulls her into a hug and she hugs him back.

"You want me to lock up for you?" she offers.

"Please. Thanks."

~~*~~

A Jaguar slows to a stop in front of Barry's house. The driver's door opens and Sara steps out. Gone are the torn jeans and leather jacket; instead she wears a stylish black suit with her hair pulled up in a tight, low bun. All that remains of her usual look are her red leather gloves.

She walks around the car and opens the door, holding it open while Len steps out. Len, too, is transformed. Gone is the ever-present stubble; all of the grease has been scrubbed away. He wears black slacks, a blue button-down shirt that matches his eyes, and a slightly ill-fitting blazer.

He offers his hand to Sara, which she takes and kisses, while Len runs his eyes appreciatively over her outfit.

"Gimme a break. Would you look at us?" Sara says when it looks like he's going to give her a compliment.

"I think you look tremendous," Len says, sincerely.

"Too bad my grandmother bit the dust. She'd be very proud I'm wearing a bra." Len smiles as Sara closes the door. "Go get your twink and let's roll."

She leans against the car, watching as Len salutes her and heads up to the house and rings the doorbell.

"Joe, it's for me," Barry calls out as he opens the door.

A male voice, presumably Joe, calls, "What time will you be home?"

"Early," Barry calls back. 

"Tell Oliver hello for us," Joe says.

Barry looks slightly guilty as he responds, "Okay. Bye." 

The answering "Bye," can be heard as Barry steps out onto the porch.

"Hi," Barry says, taking in Len's cleaned-up appearance.

"Hi," Len responds, barely resisting the urge to lick his lips. Barry is wearing a deep red button-down shirt, open at the collar, and black slacks. No jacket. 

"You look different," Barry says.

"Than what?" Len asks.

"Than before," Barry says, simply. 

"I'm wearing a suit," Len points out. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. I'm standing in an open door. I guess you could say that," Barry says, stepping all the way out and closing the door behind him.

"Let's go," Len suggests, gesturing for Barry to precede him. 

"All right." Barry heads down the walkway and notices the Jaguar parked at the curb, and the girl standing there.

"Check that out," Barry says, appreciatively. "Did you steal it?" 

"No, I borrowed it," Len says, bristling only slightly as they both get in the car. "I figured your ass was too precious for vinyl."

"You're right."

"Wha--" Barry laughs as Sara opens the door for him. Sliding into the car, he says, "Thank you." 

"So, do you always bring an extra person when you go out?" Barry asks Len.

"I like to cover my bets," Len drawls.

Barry rolls his eyes. "That's very cute. I'll have to remember that."

"I'm gonna love this one. I can feel it already," Sara mutters as she moves around the car, gets in behind the wheel, and they take off.

~~*~~

The first stop of the evening is at a very fancy restaurant. Len and Barry sit in awkward silence until the appetizer arrives, Len having ordered for them when he made the reservation.

"Is it moving?" Len asks, a faint look of disgust on his face.

"Well, what is it?" Barry asks, afraid to find out.

"It's beluga caviar," Len says, as if it were obvious. "It's the most expensive caviar you can buy. I thought you were an uptown guy. You should know this stuff."

Frustrated, Barry says, "Look-- How this happened is as much of a mystery to me as it is to you. I'm no more thrilled about it than you... so why don't you just stop giving me attitude, please?"

"I'm giving you attitude?" Len retorts. 

"Yeah. Like on Friday, pulling that he-man power play... about how I have to ask my friends for permission. I didn't appreciate it. I don't like being treated like that."

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" Len asks.

"At least I have friends," Barry snaps. 

"Are you sure?" Len says, mockingly. 

"Look, do you want to end this right now?" Barry asks.

"Relax. Calm down. Please." Len can't believe that he's blown his one shot with Barry already, even if it is a joke. "Listen, we ordered. I don't want to end it. Enjoy the atmosphere. Pretend I'm dead."

"I wish," Barry grumbles, looking anywhere but at Len.

In the alley behind the restaurant, Sara has befriended the kitchen staff and they're all playing dice. She's winning.

Back in the restaurant, a waitress approaches Len and Barry with two covered plates. She sets them down and removes the cover, revealing burgers and fries.

"Very uptown," Barry says with a grin.

"Hey, you're smiling," Len comments.

"I'm sorry," Barry says, smiling wider.

"Don't apologize. It's nice. You have a lovely smile."

Barry tries to stop smiling, but can't. "Whenever I try not to smile, I smile more."

The rest of the meal is much more comfortable and relaxed.

Sara is sitting in the car when Len and Barry come out. She hops out to open the door.

"I'll get the door," Barry offers, reaching for the handle. 

"No, I got it," Sara insists. "Sorry I wasn't more on the ball. I was comatose."

"Here, I brought you something to eat," Len says, handing her a doggie bag.

"A gift? For me?" Sara says, sarcasm lacing every word.

"Yeah, thought you might be hungry," Len says, wondering at her attitude.

"Gee, thanks," Sara says. "Eating and driving, it's as handy as skiing and doing your taxes."

"Well, maybe you can eat it at the next stop," Len suggests.

"Could I book time to take a leak?" Sara snarks.

Len leans out of the car to ask, "What's your problem?"

"Nothing," Sara says.

"Excuse me a minute, please," Len says to Barry before getting back out of the car and closing the door. "Listen, you volunteered to do this. I was all prepared to drive. You said, 'No, no, no, no, I'll drive so you guys can talk.' Remember?"

"It was this morning, moron. Of course I remember."

"So why are you giving me shit?" Len asks.

Unwilling to answer, Sara walks around to the driver's door. "Let's go," she says, getting into the car. As Len gets in, she says to Barry, "If my dinner reeks, let me know. I'll put it in the trunk."

Looking back and forth between the two, Barry says, "It's fine, really."

"Well, then, we're off," Sara says, putting the car in gear and pulling onto the road.

During the silent drive, Barry watches as Len watches Sara, who doesn't take her eyes from the road.

Finally they pull up to a loading dock for a large building. Sara gets out and opens the door for Barry.

"Thank you," Barry says.

Sara leans in close to him to quietly say, "Break his heart, I break your face."

Barry doesn't doubt that she would.

"What are we doing here?" Barry asks as they approach the dark building.

"It's an art museum," Len says. 

"What are _we_ doing here?"> Barry asks again.

"You don't like art?" Len asks, enjoying this game.

"I do like art. It's just that-- Isn't it closed?"

"That doesn't mean we can't go in," Len says.

Barry is very confused, but only says, "Okay."

As they climb up onto the dock, a heavy door opens to reveal Mick.

"Hello. We've been waiting for you a long time, my pop and I," he says, stepping out of the doorway to let them in. "Come on in. Right this way."

"Barry, Mick." Len makes quick introductions.

"Nice to meet you, Barry," Mick says.

"No monkey business," the security guard, Mick's dad, says.

"Dad, freeze it, okay?" Mick grumbles. "I told you before, this is gonna be all fine. God." To Len, he whispers, "That's a nice ass, man."

Mick's dad leads them to a cargo elevator. "I lose my job because of this, you're in the dumper, Mick."

"Absolutely, Pop, absolutely."

"Hey, thanks a lot," Len says as he and Barry step onto the elevator.

"Just remember, anything for a pal, okay?" Mick says as the doors close.

"Have you ever been here before?" Len asks as they wander through the empty galleries.

"Yeah. Sixth grade? I don't remember."

"I come here all the time," Len confides. "I've never been here at night, though. This place is my church. I could come here and what anybody says about me doesn't matter."

"I have to come back here when I can spend more time," Barry says, oddly pleased that Len has chosen to share this with him.

"We have all night," Len says. He nods his head towards the next room. "There's one in here that I'd like to show you."

On the central wall in the next room with a spotlight shining on it is the painting of Barry that Len has been working on at school. Barry is struck speechless. He glances at Len, who is standing off to the side a bit nervous and the biggest smile spreads across Barry's face. 

He sits on a bench that's facing the painting and takes it in. The Barry in the painting is leaning against a brick wall, a sad smile on his face as he stares off into the distance. He looks at Len, wondering how he could have captured that feeling of being alone in a crowd so perfectly.

~~*~~

Sara sits in the car, her knees pulled up to her chest as she leans against the front passenger door. She can't believe that she is torturing herself like this. Why did she think that it would be a good idea to tag along on Len's dream date with Barry?

A tear escapes and runs down her cheek. She harshly wipes it away, but more follow. She rests her head against her knees as she begins to sob.

~~*~~

The next stop is the park where Len leads Barry to the gazebo. Sara finds a bench a short distance from them. Close enough to see when they are ready to leave, but far enough away that she can't hear what they're saying.

"So what do you see in me?" Barry asks. "Be honest." 

"What do you see in me?" Len counters. "You first."

Barry thinks about it for a minute before saying, "Nobody thought anything about me other than I look good next to them. I went along with it because I'd-- I'd rather be next to somebody for the wrong reasons... than alone for the right ones."

"I'd rather be right," Len says.

"Can't stand being alone," Barry says.

"Nobody can stand being alone," Len counters. "The minute you stop thinking there's someone for you, it's over, isn't it?" Barry shrugs. "Isn't it?"

"I don't know."

"I've been waiting a long time... and I still don't have it, but I will."

"What are you talking about?" Barry asks.

"You know what I'm talking about," Len says.

"No, I don't," Barry insists. 

"Yes, you do. It's not funny." Len says. "I know you know what I mean." 

"I don't."

"This." Len gestures with his arm. "Tonight was a joke. I was set up. You used me, right?"

"You think I used you?" Barry asks, incredulous. 

"Didn't you?"

Barry glares at him, then deflates. "I don't know, in a way." 

"In a way?" Len huffs. "There's only one way you use someone. You either do, or you don't."

"You didn't use me?" Barry challenges. "God, you hypocrite. What's hanging in that museum, huh? My soul? No, it's my face. You're using me to pay back every guy with more money and more power than you. Paint it any color you want. It's still you using me."

There's a long pause as Len realizes the truth behind Barry's words. "You're right. I did use you. For all those reasons. I'm sorry."

"Can we call it even?" Barry suggests.

"We're even," Len agrees. He pulls a jewelry box from his inner jacket pocket. "This is for you."

"What is this?" Barry asks, surprised.

"It's my future," Len says, earnestly. "In this box is my future. Every cent I've ever earned. It's for you."

He hands Barry the box. He takes it with hesitation and opens it. Inside is an OMEGA Speedmaster watch.

"I can't take this," Barry quickly says, trying to give the box back. 

"You have to," Len insists. "I know you like it. I saw you wearing Cisco's, remember?"

"This is insane. It doesn't make any sense."

"You shouldn't have to borrow anything," Len says. "You're too good for that." Barry has dropped his head, overcome with emotion. No one has ever seen him the way that Len does. "Why are you crying?"

Barry rubs at his eyes. "I feel so terrible for what I've been doing. I hate feeling ashamed. I hate where I'm from. I hate watching my friends get everything their hearts desire. I gave in to that hatred and I turned on what I believed in. I didn't have to. You didn't."

"So you won't do it again. You don't have to. Ever."

Barry wipes his face and leans forward to kiss Len. He slides his arms around Len's neck and pulls him close.

Sara has been watching them talk. When Barry kisses Len, she has to look away. It's too painful to watch. She knows she's lost her chance with Len forever. She stands and goes back to the car and lays on the hood to wait.

It isn't long before Barry and Len return, holding hands, the watch on Barry's wrist.

"What now?" Sara asks, sliding off the car.

"Oliver's house," Len says.

Barry looks shocked. Guilt and fear chase each other across his face. He looks to Sara, who is equally shocked.

"Did you forget something? He wants to beat the crap out of you," Sara says.

"It's for real," Barry says. 

"I know," Len says, squeezing Barry's hand.

"If you want to do that, drive yourself," Sara says. 

Len opens the door for Barry. "I have to face him sooner or later."

"It's not just Ollie. It's his friends," Barry points out.

"I can handle it," Len insists.

"I could beat the crap out of you. You won't last six seconds," Sara reminds him.

"I know what I'm doing," Len gets in the car.

Sara yanks open her door and gets in. "Don't go overboard, studly."

"Let's go," Len says.

~~*~~

The Jaguar pulls up in front of Oliver's house where the party is loudly in progress. Len steps out of the car and helps Barry out. Sara gets out as Len looks up at the house.

"You don't have to do this," Sara says. 

"Yeah, I do," Len says, resolutely.

"Okay. I'll be here," Sara says.

"Thanks." Len slips an arm around Barry's shoulders and they head up the driveway.

Once inside, they stand in the doorway for a moment, steeling themselves. Everyone is looking at them. Len holds up his hand and Barry takes it. 

Across the room, Tommy Merlyn spots them and rushes over to Oliver. "Guess what? Barry brought him."

Oliver's head turns to the door and he hops out of his seat crossing to the newcomers. 

Len's nervous, but Barry squeezes his hand reassuringly.

"Welcome," Oliver says, drawing a crowd around them. "Glad you could come by. I was worried you would disappoint us." Len and Barry take a few tentative steps into the room. Samantha walks up to Oliver and slips an arm around his waist in a proprietary fashion and Oliver kisses the top of her head. 

Barry knows that the display is for his benefit, but he's not jealous. Nauseated would be a better word to describe what he's feeling right now. He can't believe that he was with Oliver for as long as he was.

"Did you have a good time?" Oliver asks Len.

"Yeah," Len says. 

With a wicked gleam in his eye, Oliver asks Len, "He's deceptively innocent, isn't he? Clean, nice on the outside." 

Len's hackles rise and his free hand balls into a fist. Barry gives his hand another squeeze, even though he looks ready to tear out Oliver's throat himself.

Barry's looking around the room at his so-called friends. Not one of them looks like they are willing to defend him. Cisco won't even meet his eyes. It's clear that Cisco doesn't like what Oliver is saying, but he won't go against the leader of their clique. 

"Did he do you?" Oliver snidely asks. "See... the one thing that I'm glad about is that you get him used." 

Barry flinches at the words, but otherwise doesn't react. 

Len lunges at Oliver. "Back off, man!" He pushes Oliver against the wall but then Oliver's friends pull him away. Oliver straightens up, adjusting his clothes.

"That was not very smart, friend. I don't even care about you." Oliver glares at Barry. "He's the trash." He glances back to Len. "You're just a fool!" To his friends, he adds, "Take him outside and kick the shit out of him."

No one moves. This was just supposed to be a joke; they weren't supposed to actually beat the guy up. 

"Why don't you take me outside?" Len challenges, struggling against the arms holding him back.

"What?" Oliver laughs.

"I said, 'Why don't you take me outside?'"

"I would love to, but I am the host here. I have guests." He gestures to the crowd. "I said take him outside, okay?"

Barry steps forward. "You don't want to do this."

"Oh, really?" Oliver sneers.

"Yeah. You said yourself, I'm the trash. I got him into this. Why don't you deal with me?"

"That's very touching, standing up for your new man. I like that."

"Let him go. Why don't you do something right for once in your life?" Barry says.

"Forget it. It's worthless. You can't talk to him," Len says.

"What do you want?" Barry asks Oliver.

"You know what I want," Oliver says, his eyes roaming over Barry.

Barry blows out a breath. "Okay. Okay, you want me back? I'm back."

Oliver laughs. "Come on. It's not that easy. You're gonna have to convince me. I want you to beg."

"Let him go," Barry says, beseechingly

"Come on, you're a beggar," Oliver sneers. "Beg."

"Bastard," Barry spits.

"You're gonna have to beg," Oliver says, again.

The front door swings open and a new voice says, "I don't think that's gonna be necessary." Mick enters with the other delinquents from detention. "I didn't know Queen lived in a henhouse. Did you know that? Must be a henhouse, 'cause I don't see nothin' but chicken shit."

"I don't want any trouble. My parents will be home soon," Oliver says, suddenly nervous. "You leave now, and we'll forget everything."

"Let's just cut the bullshit. All right?" Mick says. "Please? I'm here to wipe the floor with your ass." He gets up in Oliver's face. "You know it, everybody knows it, and you deserve it. I think it's safe to say that this party is about to become a historical fact."

"Wait, wait," Len says, holding Mick back. "Let me talk to him."

"Okay," Mick consents, standing next to Barry.

"Look, I'm perfectly willing to forget this. Okay? I see no reason in carrying this on any longer. It was a joke. It's gone too far. It's over. Okay?" Oliver states.

"You want the truth? You want the plain truth?" Len leans in close to Oliver. "You're over."

Len steps back and turns towards the door.

"Are you just gonna leave?" Barry asks.

"There isn't anything I could do to him that he hasn't already done to himself."

Barry glances back at Oliver. "Wish I could live with that." He takes a step forward and punches Oliver in the jaw.

Everyone goggles at him. 

Mick shakes Barry's hand. "Good move, Barry. I approve."

"Thanks again, Mick," Len says, holding his hand out to shake. 

"No problem, no problem," Mick says, clasping Len's hand. "You guys go along. We're gonna stick around here. Try to crank up this party to a nice respectable level." Len raises an eyebrow. "Don't worry. I won't mess him up. I'm not even gonna touch him. Just gonna make him cry a little bit."

"Good night," Barry says as he follows Len out the door.

"All right. Let's cut the bullshit. We're gonna have some fun," Mick says to his crew. 

"Remind me never to get you mad at me," Len teases as they head down the driveway. 

"Did you see the look on their faces?" Barry asks, shaking out his hand.

Len sees Sara leaning against the car and it's like he's seeing her for the first time. She looks happy and sad at the same time - both because of him. He remembers what it felt like to kiss her at the garage and he can't believe that he ever wanted to kiss anyone else after that.

The three of them stand there awkwardly for a moment. It's been an emotional night for all of them in one way or another.

"Nice move. I saw it from out here," Sara says when they reach her. "Well-- Why don't you guys run along? I'll walk. My butt's asleep from sitting all night." She holds a hand out to Barry. "I'm sorry if I misjudged you."

Barry shakes it. "That's okay."

Sara looks at Len and can feel the tears welling up again. She clears her throat. "Keys are in the car." She holds up a hand in farewell, turns on her heel, and quickly walks away from them.

Barry watches as Len follows her with his eyes. There's a longing in them that nearly breaks his heart. No one's even looked at him like that. Not even Len when he was chasing him.

He slips the watch off his wrist. 

"Remember how I said I'd rather be with someone for the wrong reasons than alone for the right ones? I'd rather be right. It's gonna feel good to stand on my own. Here." He places the watch in Len's hand. "In your heart you wanted to give this to somebody else."

Len looks at him, confused. Then looks back up at the ever-smaller figure of Sara.

"Go," Barry says, nodding towards Sara. "Go on."

Too many emotions are hitting Len at once. A grin spreads across his face as he kisses Barry on the cheek and takes off after Sara.

When he catches up with her, Sara's arms are wrapped around her waist as she cries. She's let her hair down and it cascades down her back. Len sweeps her up in his arms and kisses her. Sara clutches at him, her fingers digging into his coat as she kisses him back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Len apologizes after he sets her back on her feet, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

"Yeah. Well, you're stupid. I always knew you were stupid." She can't believe that he's here.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Len quietly asks.

"You never asked," Sara tells him. Len slips the watch onto her wrist. It's a little loose, but looks good against the red leather. Sara laughs through her tears. "I wanted this. I really wanted this."

"It's yours," Len says. Then something occurs to him. "You knew you were gonna get it." 

"No, I didn't. I hoped. I didn't know."

"You knew," Len says, slipping an arm around her waist as they start walking towards home. 

"I had a feeling," she admits. She holds out her wrist. "Well, how does it look?"

"You look good wearing my future," Len says, pulling her close.

The End


End file.
